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Amazon announced that, thanks to a new skill from AT&T, Echo users will be able to send hands-free texts through their AT&T network phones, according to Engadget. Users can say, “Alexa, ask AT&T to text,” and then state the name of the contact and dictate a message.

This adds to the long list of skills that Amazon and users have created for the popular voice assistant, and may indicate that integration with smartphones is the next step for voice assistants, such as the Echo or the Google Home.

The Echo product line and Alexa voice assistant continues to be the market leader in the voice-activated speaker market and continues to enhance its capabilities. This recent skill addition adds to the already thousands of skills that Alexa boasts, many of which are more mainstream and consumer-focused. For example, last month the company added a CNN skill for individual news hosts and the network overall, and an MLB Audio skill just in time for the World Series.

However, Amazon could fall behind competing smart home ecosystems because it doesn't connect directly to a smartphone. Amazon’s two primary competitors in the smart home ecosystem market thus far, Alphabet and Apple, both provide operating systems that connect to users’ smartphones, rather than using third parties to connect to phones, which is what Amazon is doing here.

Amazon likely will not look to re-enter the phone market after its last unsuccessfulattempt, but it might be wise for the company to look into ways to better integrate Alexa with its users’ mobile phones so that they can make calls and send text messages.

The U.S. smart home market has yet to truly take off. At its current state, we believe the smart home market is stuck in the 'chasm' of the technology adoption curve, in which it is struggling to surpass the early-adopter phase and move to the mass-market phase of adoption.

There are many barriers preventing mass-market smart home adoption: high device prices, limited consumer demand and long device replacement cycles. However, the largest barrier is the technological fragmentation of the smart home ecosystem, in which consumers need multiple networking devices, apps and more to build and run their smart home.

John Greenough, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the U.S. smart home market that analyzes current consumer demand for the smart home and barriers to widespread adoption. It also analyzes and determines areas of growth and ways to overcome barriers.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

Smart home devices are becoming more prevalent throughout the US. We define a smart home device as any stand-alone object found in the home that is connected to the internet, can be either monitored or controlled from a remote location, and has a noncomputing primary function. Multiple smart home devices within a single home form the basis of a smart home ecosystem.

Currently, the US smart home market as a whole is in the "chasm" of the tech adoption curve. The chasm is the crucial stage between the early-adopter phase and the mass-market phase, in which manufacturers need to prove a need for their devices.

High prices, coupled with limited consumer demand and long device replacement cycles, are three of the four top barriers preventing the smart home market from moving from the early-adopter stage to the mass-market stage. For example, mass-market consumers will likely wait until their device is broken to replace it. Then they will compare a nonconnected and connected product to see if the benefits make up for the price differential.

The largest barrier is technological fragmentation within the connected home ecosystem. Currently, there are many networks, standards, and devices being used to connect the smart home, creating interoperability problems and making it confusing for the consumer to set up and control multiple devices. Until interoperability is solved, consumers will have difficulty choosing smart home devices and systems.

"Closed ecosystems" are the short-term solution to technological fragmentation. Closed ecosystems are composed of devices that are compatible with each other and which can be controlled through a single point.

In full, the report:

Analyzes the demand of US consumers, based off of survey results

Forecasts out smart home device growth until 2020

Determines the current leaders in the market

Explains how the connected home ecosystem works

Examines how Apple and Google will play a major role in the development of the smart home

Some of the companies mentioned in this report include Apple, Google, Nest, August, ADT, Comcast, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, Lowe's, and Honeywell.

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